Sudan Targets Wheat Self-Sufficiency, Plans Crop Diversification

Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Sudan has targeted self-sufficiency
in wheat production in five years’ time and also plans to expand
output of other grain crops, Agriculture Minister Abdel Haleem
al-Mutafi said.

Sudan, Africa’s biggest country, imports 80 percent of its
annual wheat needs and the country aims to attract investment
from the Persian Gulf and China to boost production to its
annual usage, al-Mutafi said. The country will consume 2 million
metric tons in 2010-2011, according to U.S. Department of
Agriculture data.

“We are working hard to attract foreign investments to
increase wheat production in the country,” al-Mutafi said
yesterday in an interview in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

A U.S. decision last month to ease sanctions to allow the
export of farming equipment in a bid to help the country reduce
its reliance on oil and aid peace efforts may boost production
in Sudan’s northern region, which has the country’s most
favorable weather conditions for wheat production, the minister
said. Equipment purchased directly from the U.S. will be cheaper
than machines obtained from third parties in countries such as
Dubai and China, al-Mutafi said.

To reach self-sufficiency, Sudan plans to increase the area
devoted to wheat production by 25 percent each year from the
600,000 feddans (622,800 acres) it plans to plant next year, the
minister said. The country produced 400,000 tons of wheat this
year, he added.

Nebraska-based Valmont Industries Inc. is in talks with
Sudanese companies including Kenana Sugar Co., to sell “a
considerable amount” of irrigation equipment, Richard D.
Berkland, Valmont’s vice president for international irrigation
sales and marketing, said in an Oct. 25 interview after the
announcement on the easing of sanctions.

‘Positive Signals’

Gulf companies, including Riyadh-based National Agriculture
Development Co., known as NADEC, and Qatar’s Hassad Co., started
wheat and animal feed production in Sudan last year, he said.

The farming equipment exemption came as the country’s semi-autonomous southern region prepares for a January referendum on
whether to secede from the north. The vote is a key component of
the 2005 peace agreement that ended two decades of civil war
between the Muslim north and the south, where Christianity and
traditional beliefs dominate. About 2 million people died in the
conflict and more than 4 million were displaced.

Economic Sanctions

The U.S. classifies Sudan as a sponsor of terrorism and has
applied economic sanctions since 1997. The easing of
restrictions is part of U.S. efforts to shore up the peace
agreement. It has also promised to invest in non-oil industries
and resume diplomatic relations if the transition is smooth.

Sudan started a “parallel plan” to increase production of
crops better suited than wheat to conditions in the country,
such as sorghum, corn, rice and soy beans, al-Mutafi said.
Revenue generated from exporting such crops may help finance
imports of wheat, which mostly come from the U.S., Australia and
Europe, he said.

Sudan plans to export 1 million tons of sorghum to Saudi
Arabia, Italy and Japan after this year’s harvest, which is
expected to reach 6 million tons, the minister said. The country
consumes up to 4 million tons of sorghum each year, and it’s
“the main food for humans and animals in Sudan,” al-Mutafi
said.

The country will export 300,000 tons of sesame next year to
countries including Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and South Korea,
after output of 6 million to 7 million tons in the year, the
minister said. The country produced 5.5 million tons of sesame
last year, and final figures for this year’s production are
still unavailable, he added.

Talks with Egypt, Sudan’s northern neighbor, on cultivating
wheat on the border between the two countries “haven’t exceeded
hopes and dreams,” except for one Egyptian company conducting
wheat cultivation experiments in the area, al-Mutafi said.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Maram Mazen in Khartoum via the Cairo newsroom at
mmazen@bloomberg.net.